Hedge shears



Patented Dec. 6, 1932 UNITED STATES HENRY o; BAILEY, or BALTIMORE, MA YAND HEDGE snmms Applicationfiled March 9,1932. sexier 110,597,787.

This invention relates to attachments for shears employed for cuttin ortrimming hedges and the like and has or the primary object, theprovision of a device of the above stated character which may be easilyand quickly applied to a conventional type of shears so that they may beemployed for cutting or trimming grass and other growth, along curbing,guttering, flower beds and the like from a standing position so thatsuch operation may be simply carried out without fatiguing the operator.7

Another object of his invention is the provision of a tension means forthe shears to normally urge the blades apart or into noncutting positionso that when employing the shears for trimming hedges or the like theoperator will be relieved of the effort of opening the blades after eachcutting action of the blades and which cooperates with the remainingportion of the present invention in moving the blades of the shears inone direction after being moved manually in the opposite direction orinto cutting position.

With these and other objects in view,'this invention consists in certainnovel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts tobe hereinafter more fully describedand claimed. a V

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to be had tothefollowing description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 isa plan view illustrating'shears with a tension device applied theretoand forming part of my present invention,

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1. Figure 3is a perspective view illustrating the attachment applied to the shearsand the latter operated from a standing position by a person.

Figure 4 is a detail view illustrating the connection of the handle tothe shears.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a pair ofshears including pivotally connected blades 2 provided with shanks 3 towhich are secured hand grips 4. The foregoing description sets forth awell known type of shears especially adaptable 'fortrimming or cutting'h g and the like and to permit such shears toflbe employed for trimminggrass along curbing, j guttering, flower beds and the like, myinventionis applied to the hand grips 4. i a i F Split bands or clamps ,5 arerdet'achably secured. to the grips lbyfasteners G'andare providedwith'apertured extensions 7 one of which receives a headed bolt or rod 8with-the latterextendingthrough the other apertured extension andsecured thereto .by nuts 9 v threaded tosaid bolt orrods'" An expansionspring 10 is mounted upon the rod or bolt between the extensions 7forthe purpose of normally urging the hand grips 4 away from each othercausing the blades 2 toassume noncutting position as shown in Figure 1.

A split clamp 11 is secured to one of the grips 4: adjacent the splitclamp 5 thereon by a fastener 12 and hasthe ends thereof bent intoparallelism to form an extension- 13 provided with an aperture 14 toreceive a'bolt 15 having a wingnut 16; A- handle '17ofconsiderablelength'has secured to oneendplates.

' 18 adapted to receivetherebetween the extension 13 and are providedwithopenings to receive the bolt 15. The ends of the plates are bevelledas shown at 19 to engage with i the nut 12 for the purpose of preventingthe handle 17 from being moved beyond a parallel position with respectto' the extension 13 in one direction but which willpermit the handle topivot relative to the extension in an opposite direction. r

In operation to trim grass and other 7 growth, the shears are positionedas shown in Figure 3 with one of the hand grips 4 engaging the groundand the blade of the other hand grlp also in engagement with the groundso that on pressing downwardly on the handle 17 the blades move intocutting position severing the grasswith the hand 1 grip 4 that engagesthe ground acting as a fulcrum. As soon as pressureis released on thehandle 17 the spring 10 moves the blades into non-cutting positionwhence the shears are advanced along the ground for another cuttingaction. r

Whenemploying the shears for trimming hedges and thelike, the handle 17is removed 1 and the shears mounted n the usual manner, the springlOalways acting to move the blades into non-cutting position thus reliev-1 ing the operator of the efiort of moving said blades in the statedposition after each cutting actionlof the blades.

While I have shown and described the preferredembod'ment of myinvention,it will be understoodvthat minor changes in con- 7 V struction,combination and arrangement of parts may be made Without departing fromthe sp rit and scope of my invention, as claimed. a

Having thus described my invention, What I'claim is: i 3 "1.- Incombinationwith shears having pivotedblades and providedwith hand grips,spring meanslo'cated between and connected to saidxgrips forsurging thelatter apart and positioning the blades in non-cutt ng position, and acomparatively long handle detachably' and pivotally connected to one ofI the .grips for permitting a person to move the-bladesrinto cuttingpositionrwhen said shears-are positioned wth fone blade. and I grip inengagement with the ground. 2. In combination with shears having pivotedblades and provided With hand grips, clamps secured to said grips; acurved rod 3 secured to one of the clamps and slidably connected to theother clamp,-spring means on sad rod between the clamps to normallyposition'the blades in non-cutting position, andmeansdetachablyconnected to one of I 35 the grips for permitting a person to move theblades into cutting-position when said shears are positioned withon-eblade and grip in engagement with the ground. 7 v

Intestimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HENRY O. BAILEY;

